Jacob deGrom was the lone bright spot in the Mets pitching rotation in 2017 and may now be looking at a contract extension.
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets may engage deGrom’s camp this winter about an extension, likely in the five year range that would buy out his next three years of arbitration.
The 29-year-old went 15-10 with a 3.53 ERA, 3.50 FIP, 1.187 WHIP and a 10.7 K/9 over 31 starts (201.1 innings) this past season.
Puma said the Mets had been reluctant to dole out a contract extension to a specific starting pitcher in the past because their might have been resentment from another arm in the rotation.
However, deGrom has separated himself from the pack, while Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler have been hampered by the injury bug. Noah Syndergaard is also under team control for another four seasons.
If there’s anyone in the staff that’s deserving of a contract extension, it’s deGrom. In 2017, he proved that he is the true anchor to the Mets pitching rotation.
With that being said, it’s feasible that he could be a guy who consistently pitches in the 200 innings range while also acting as a stopper every fifth day.
“It’s definitely big for me,” deGrom said of his innings total in September. “We’ve got plans to hopefully go to the World Series next year, and I think that’s something I wanted to get to, to know what it’s like to pitch that many innings in a year.”
Former Mets manager Terry Collins also backed this notion.
“You see the big guys, 200 (innings). I think that becomes a number that those guys get used to, a standard they live by,” Collins said. “(Clayton) Kershaw, Scherzer, those kind of guys, they live by 200 innings.
“I think you’re going to look up in a few years and that’s going to be Jake deGrom’s motif. You know you’re going to get 200-plus out of him, and they’re going to be quality innings.”
In addition, Mets manager Mickey Callaway said about the pitching staff as a whole that he will be monitoring each pitchers status after the second time through the order.
However, this likely won’t apply to deGrom and Syndergaard.
“There are so many factors that will come into play you just can’t simply say that you are going to leave guys in until a certain point or take them out in a certain point in a game,” Callaway said in a text message. “We will lean on the numbers heavily going in, look at the matchups that are taking place in the game. we will maximize everyone’s ability on the roster the best we can.”
The future of the rotation will largely rest on the shoulders of deGrom and Syndergaard, so it makes sense that they are the focus of being retained for years to come.
